BVM invented the haybales task, and has said publicly he LOVED this task, even with how it ended.

Yes, I could definintely see this being the EPIC Roadblock .

Bögs Gärd farm , Häggvik, Sweden

If so, then LENA darned well better get to be the greeter!!!

That would be cool, too! It would be cool if they had a flashback where Phil says: "Teams must now travel to the site of the infamous hay bale Roadblock, where Lena struggled for several hours to find the clue hidden inside." Complete with footage from S6 and everything!

Logged

"The authority of example and considerations of character, unlike pudding, are not whipped up in an instant." - Neal A. Maxwell

BVM invented the haybales task, and has said publicly he LOVED this task, even with how it ended.

Yes, I could definintely see this being the EPIC Roadblock .

Bögs Gärd farm , Häggvik, Sweden

If so, then LENA darned well better get to be the greeter!!!

That would be cool, too! It would be cool if they had a flashback where Phil says: "Teams must now travel to the site of the infamous hay bale Roadblock, where Lena struggled for several hours to find the clue hidden inside." Complete with footage from S6 and everything!

Here's an idea: (COMPLETELY spec) the "Switchback" is offered with a Roadblock where instead of performing the current Roadblock, you perform one of the past season's Roadblocks instead and if you do it successfully, you can skip certain tasks. With this format, they can all accommodate the cyclos in Vietnam, the nuts in Dubai, the haybales in Sweden and the pole vault in Amsterdam. Once again though, completely spec. Hope I made that clear.

BVM invented the haybales task, and has said publicly he LOVED this task, even with how it ended.

Yes, I could definintely see this being the EPIC Roadblock .

Bögs Gärd farm , Häggvik, Sweden

If so, then LENA darned well better get to be the greeter!!!

That would be cool, too! It would be cool if they had a flashback where Phil says: "Teams must now travel to the site of the infamous hay bale Roadblock, where Lena struggled for several hours to find the clue hidden inside." Complete with footage from S6 and everything!

And then Tiffany or Maria suffering the same fate as Lena! Now that would be harsh especially since it seems like they are eliminated that leg!

I could just see CBS putting a Lena look alike in the field, to fruitlessly search through hay bales next to whichever team that got sent there... But then again, I have a very cruel sense of humour. (Note: Speculation)

The question is how far is that from Stockholm, and would the teams have the time to go there, given that the task was open-ended as to duration. (As evidenced by the 8(?) hours Lena took originally and Phil's out-on-the-field elimination.) If there isn't enough time between the pit stop in the Netherlands to boarding the ferry to Tallin, then that would be a negative. This comes down to how long the teams had in Sweden, and as far as I know, we don't have a complete handle on that.

The question is how far is that from Stockholm, and would the teams have the time to go there, given that the task was open-ended as to duration. (As evidenced by the 8(?) hours Lena took originally and Phil's out-on-the-field elimination.) If there isn't enough time between the pit stop in the Netherlands to boarding the ferry to Tallin, then that would be a negative. This comes down to how long the teams had in Sweden, and as far as I know, we don't have a complete handle on that.

I don't think teams necessarily will return to the EXACT spot of the original hay bale task. They could go to any field in Sweden. After all, the casual viewer will think "oh yeah, I remember those hay bales in Sweden," not "wait, wasn't the original task in Häggvik?"

Peach:Don't even bother finding which Haggvik is which. We know that teams took train and bicycle out to Haggvik and that Phil came out for the in-the-field elimination of Lena/Kristy. It has to be the 20 minute away one. Phil could not have gotten from the ship in Stockholm harbor after checking in all other teams to Haggvik if it were 5 hours away.

The question is how far is that from Stockholm, and would the teams have the time to go there, given that the task was open-ended as to duration. (As evidenced by the 8(?) hours Lena took originally and Phil's out-on-the-field elimination.) If there isn't enough time between the pit stop in the Netherlands to boarding the ferry to Tallin, then that would be a negative. This comes down to how long the teams had in Sweden, and as far as I know, we don't have a complete handle on that.

I don't think teams necessarily will return to the EXACT spot of the original hay bale task. They could go to any field in Sweden. After all, the casual viewer will think "oh yeah, I remember those hay bales in Sweden," not "wait, wasn't the original task in Häggvik?"

And BVM isn't exactly a stickler for details on things like this.

Given the fact that Bertram was being quite clear about the concept of going back to the scene of the original roadblock task as part of the "Flashback," I;m not going to assume he's being deceptive. TPTB wouldn't need to even call it a "Flashback" if the task wasn't in the same location.

I'm pretty sure this is going to be a giant curve ball for these Racers and future Racers because it will be another level of uncertainty teams will have to prepare for pre-Race unless they're familar with the history of the Race.

The only other roadblock that I can think of that might qualify is the driving roadblock in Tokyo a couple of seasons back. It also meets the stricter paramaters I think need to be applied (teams are in Tokyo, and the task was difficult because of the navagation issues for the teams (as was the HCMC roadblock in TAR 3.) I can't think of any other places that stand out as possibilities.

The only other roadblock that I can think of that might qualify is the driving roadblock in Tokyo a couple of seasons back. It also meets the stricter paramaters I think need to be applied (teams are in Tokyo, and the task was difficult because of the navagation issues for the teams (as was the HCMC roadblock in TAR 3.) I can't think of any other places that stand out as possibilities.

Well, yes, but was it infamous? No. In my mind it is too fresh in our minds to qualify. And yet despite how recent it was, it isn't one of the first Roadblocks that comes to my head.

Quote

Teams fortunate enough to avoid the surprise elimination and compete for the $ 1 million prize will face the "Switchback," which sends Teams back to the site of one of the series' most infamous Roadblocks, as well as a surprise appearance by one of America's most beloved entertainers, a visit to the world's tallest building and a spicy twist on a Japanese game show.

The teams may not even have to do the Roadblock task, but simply visit the location of the task. That's how I read this.

« Last Edit: September 11, 2009, 03:06:37 PM by Hooky »

Logged

"The authority of example and considerations of character, unlike pudding, are not whipped up in an instant." - Neal A. Maxwell

Contestants will travel one of the fastest courses ever assembled on the Race - spanning eight countries in just 21 days. Season 15 also features the quickest elimination in the history of the series, sending one Team home before they leave the starting line. Teams fortunate enough to avoid the surprise elimination and compete for the $ 1 million prize will face the "Switchback," which sends Teams back to the site of one of the series' most infamous Roadblocks, as well as a surprise appearance by one of America's most beloved entertainers, a visit to the world's tallest building and a spicy twist on a Japanese game show.

"This season we wanted to keep the Racers and our fans on their toes and make sure no one gets too comfortable," stated Bertram van Munster, Executive Producer and Co-Creator of THE AMAZING RACE. "We're adding some new surprise elements including our quickest elimination ever as well as revisiting one of the most challenging Roadblocks our Teams have ever encountered during our past 15 seasons."

Quoting this from puddin over the Sightings and Locations

With new information about revisiting the meanest roadblock... I'm really scared about Stockholm right now...

*Gets the Lena and Kristy vibes*

If indeed it is... it would be painful for the girls to actually watch it again (if they still watch TAR)

Teams fortunate enough to avoid the surprise elimination and compete for the $ 1 million prize will face the "Switchback," which sends Teams back to the site of one of the series' most infamous Roadblocks

it might just be bad wording from the writers but it definitely seems like teams that survive the start line elimination will all face the switchback

Here's a novel thought for the scenario where the infamous haybales task is replicated:

It all depends on the ratio of clues to hay bales. The reason that most teams finished quickly was that the field started with 20 clues in about 270 bales. That gave each team a 1/13.5 or 7.4% chance at getting one. That means they would have to unroll just 14 bales on average to find a clue. The odds on unrolling over 100 bales and not finding one are astronomical; it would not have happened if Lena was efficient in seeing clues in some of her bales, as there were 12 clues left after all other teams had finished and there should have been approximately 270 - 8 X 13.5 = 162 bales left. Up until that point, her odds of finding a clue in a bale (assuming efficiency on her part) were higher, but even then it had to be something like 12/162 on each try or still 7.4% each try. It should again take her on average at that point only another 14 bales to finish.

So, if you were Bertrand van Munster (who is really a very clever guy), what would you do if you needed to assure that a repeat of the Lena debacle did not happen again? You would increase the ratio of clues to bales, that's what you would do. Doing so would decrease the differentiation between teams coming out of this task, but that's OK since it will be a total BUNCHING for the ferry anyway. Even if they used the original ratio, it should still not take very long for all teams to finish.